It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the October 26, 2009 meeting be approved as written. Motion carried unanimously.

III. Report of the Interim Dean (J. Bantle)

J. Bantle shared that there are four very viable candidates for the new Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, each having unique gifts. Interviews will be completed on March 15 with feedback from the University community due shortly thereafter. We should be ready to make an offer by April 1 or invite a candidate back to campus. By April 15 we might expect to have confirmation on who the new Dean will be and in June or possibly on July 1, we will welcome the new dean to campus. There is an additional candidate who could fill in if someone drops out of this pool.

April 16 is the date set aside for our “Research Celebration” in the Student Union, with both undergraduate and graduate students presenting posters for the first time. There will be no judging for this inaugural event. We want to attract our undergraduate students who are not presently doing research and get them interested in research. We plan to have additional programs, such as a summer fellowship program to encourage their interest in research. You are asked to encourage graduate students to participate in this, who in turn will stimulate undergraduate students who are doing research, and undergraduate students who are doing research will stimulate those who aren’t currently doing research. We are asking for abstracts from the students and hoping they will register. The web site for registration is: www.wright.edu/urop. We are looking for corporate sponsorships and will utilize the money to support undergraduate research and will try to use some of this work as a springboard for future grant proposals. Dr. Dominique Belanger is in charge of this program and will answer any questions you may have concerning the Research Celebration.

IV. Committee Reports

* Policies Committee (L. Ream)

L. Ream stated that the Policies Committee had one meeting since the October Graduate Council meeting. Three items were considered with none requiring a vote by Graduate Council. A dual degree program between Wright State University and Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU) in Taiwan and PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India were approved by the Policies Committee to satisfy the International Track in the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Master’s degree program. CYCU submitted a list of 20 courses which were reviewed by Mechanical and Materials Engineering and the College of Engineering and were judged to be at the Master’s level. Wright State University students would spend a year at WSU and a second year at the international institution. International students will spend their first year at their international institution prior to coming to Wright State University for their second year. CYCU listed 20 courses consisting of 61 credit hours for Mechanical Engineering, with only three of them being taught in English. Students will be required to take one year of Chinese at Wright State University.

PSG College of Technology lists 12 courses in the Master’s for Mechanical Engineering and 12 courses in the Master’s for Materials Science in Materials Science and Engineering. The proposed curriculum from PSG College of Technology satisfies the International Track Master’s degree offered in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. All courses were deemed to be 600-700 level courses. We currently have two students who plan to begin this program.

To update the Semesters Conversion process, the workflow process has been set up in WINGS and was going well until the work stoppage occurred. Departments may choose to continue inputting courses in WINGS up to the point of voting on them. Once voting is reinstated, Committee members may approve or disapprove a course. Notes which can be shared with other Committee members as well as the submitting Department may be added as the courses are reviewed.

In July 2009 RACGS voted not to recommend the proposal for the Ph.D. in Sustainability and Renewal in Organizations. They recommended it be anchored to the recognized discipline of Organizational Leadership Studies since CEHS has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree program in the discipline. CEHS added Psychology and Urban Studies core courses which strengthens the interdisciplinary components. The core curriculum and concentrations have been revised to include course work in Organizational Theory, Leadership Theory, Psychology and Urban Studies. This proposal which emphasizes Organizational Leadership Theory and Practice will be resubmitted as a “Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership.”

* Membership Committee (J. Petrick)

The Membership Committee recommended four (4) new nominees who met the standards for full graduate faculty status and six (6) who met the standards for adjunct full graduate faculty membership.

It was moved and seconded that these nominees be approved; the motion passed unanimously.

* Student Affairs Committee (C. Brun)

The Student Affairs Committee met in November with Dean Thomas and reviewed the charge of the Committee. Dr. Bantle sent an e-mail today explaining the Graduate Council Scholars nomination process. Colleges or departments nominate for these scholarships; individuals do not apply. A limited number of five to seven of these two-year awards are given each year. The Student Affairs Committee will review nominations in April. If you want to offer an accelerated Graduate Council Scholarship, contact Dr. Bantle. This is used as a recruitment tool to attract new students. Decisions will be made by early May.

The OBR Grant for Regents Graduate/Professional Fellowship Program was not been given last year due to funding, and it is assumed this will not be available again this year.

V. Research Report (E. Reinsch-Friese)

E. Reinsch-Friese reported that as of January 31, 2010 just over $61M and 375 awards were funded, which is up from FY09. We are doing well this fiscal year both in dollars and number of awards received. Part of what has been received from OBR this year, or $6.5M, are Recovery Funds. We expect to receive about 14 million dollars by fiscal year-end.

The Research Incentive Competition is now open with a deadline for submission of March 8. This is an internal funding program with proposals to be reviewed by members of Research Council. It includes two components: Research Initiation Grants that are valued at up to $10,000 each and are generally used as Seed Funding for faculty to put together larger proposals that may be sent out for external review; and Professional Development Grants for other kinds of opportunities, such as training for faculty and are worth up to $3,000 each. Guidelines and applications are available on the RSP web site. Faculty of the Boonshoft School of Medicine are not eligible because they have their own Seed Grant program.

National Science Foundation (NSF) of American Competes Act implemented a training plan requirement effective January 1, 2010. Our plan is in place on the web site at http://www.wright.edu/rsp/policies.html. We are working on how to monitor and certify training of individuals and will provide a matrix of workshops, online training, coursework and mentoring that are required in each discipline. This institutional plan should also fulfill NIH requirements for training. This is a work in progress, so let us know is something needs to be changed or is not understood.

There has been a drastic cutback in funding from the Ohio Board of Regents for Research Challenge, down to $260,000 from $675,000 last year. Research Council is developing an RFP for an internal competition which should be completed in the next month or so. Proposals must be related to Ohio Third Frontier categories.

The Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies is sponsoring a “Proposal Writing Workshop” led by Dr. Robert Lucas of the Institute for Scholarly Productivity on Thursday, April 8, 2010. This will be announced on the faculty list serve. Please respond right away as seating is limited.

J. Bantle added that Research Council petitioned the Provost for additional monies to fund internal grants for non-Third Frontier aspects. This is currently under consideration.

VI. Old Business

No old business was brought forward.

VII. New Business

It was asked if there will be an Associate Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. J. Bantle confirmed that this position will be filled and that the plan is to have the new Dean of the School of Graduate Studies have a part in the job description and selection for this position.

VIII. Adjournment

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:58 p.m.